they lost. they did not get a president romney. they still have a president obama. but now they're at the president obama white house almost every week meeting with president obama. and i understand that he wants them to help him get his general accomplished. i understand that. what about the other direction? the fact that they're getting all this face time with the president. does that mean they're getting their agenda, too? well, you can judge for yourself in small ways.

especially not when the horse you bet on so boldly lost so badly. it also means that working goat some things doesn't mean you have to work together on everything. and it also means that elections have consequences. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. tonight, jay carney's position in the white house secretary hall of fame is assured by what he said today in the white house press briefing room about the republicans' latest budget proposal. quote, it is magic beans and fairy dust. >> i'm worried about the fiscal cliff in the same way i'm worried about martians. >> fiscal cliff. >> fiscal whatever it is. >> is this a rerun? >> still no progress as all sides jockey for position. >> i would say we're nowhere. >> speaker john boehner issued a downer offer yesterday. >> the white house quickly dismissed it. >> the speaker's proposal is out of balance. >> it is more of the same. >> it is not me being positive. it is the math.

>> magic math. >> magic beans and fairy dust. >> president obama did win the election. >> me thinks somebody made him king. >> no. i don't think that's right. >> he doesn't see where he stands in the universe. >> i would say we're nowhere. >> are we that far apart? >> both sides want a deal. >> a matter of math. >> try to stay away from hypotheticals. >> it won't pass. >> discussions abo u >> unicorns. >> they're imaginary beasts. >> magic beans. >> magic math. >> an enchanted universe. >> outrageous. >> the whole thing is going wacky. >> i would say we're nowhere. >> i don't envy the position the speaker is in. >> we're nowhere. you just might feel under attack. >> john boehner's power move. >> roll over and do what i ask. >> having the reins on the tea party. >> does he have real allies at this point? >> conservative groups lashed out. >> tea party, too, will dwarf tea party one. >> you cannot be serious. >> john boehner's power move. >> roll over and do what i ask.

there are just 27 shopping days until we go off the curb which means there are just 27 days for john bainer to make house republicans come to their senses. a new poll today shows just how much confidence the american people have that john bainer can do that. a pugh research "washington post" poll finds only 40% of americans expect house republicans to reach agreement with republicans before january 1st. 49% expect we will indeed go off the cliff which as regular viewers of this program sng really just a curb, at first, at least. and 53% of americans believe the congressional republicans will be to blame if we do go off the curb. when asked in an interview, when he and house speaker john bain her sit down together and hammer out a deal. president obama said this:

>> i don't think that the issue right now has to do with sitting in a room. the issue right now that is relevant is the acknowledgement that if we're going to raise revenues that are sufficient to balance with the very tough cuts that we've already made and the further reforms and entitlements that i'm prepared to make, that we're going to have to see the rates on the top 2% go up. and we are not going to be able to get a deal without it. >> speaker boehner's counter offer yesterday to president obama which included a mythical increase in tax revenue of $800 billion obtained by reducing or eliminating unspecified tax deductions was taken seriously by no one in the senate except republican jim demipt. speaker boehner's $800 billion tax hike will destroy american jobs. the heritage foundation skewered the boehner counteroffer on its

blog. at first blush, it appears little more than categorical preemptive capitulation. to be fair, the details of the republican proposal are extraordinarily vague to the extent it can be interpreted from the hazy details that it is utterly unacceptable. president obama said today there is a time and a place to discuss reforming the tax code. but that time is not now. >> what i've suggested is let's put a down payment on taxes, let's let tax rates on the upper income folks go up. let's let those go up. and then let's set up a process with a time certain at the end of 2013 or the fall of 2013 where we work on tax reform. we look at what loopholes and deductions both democrats and republicans are willing to close. and it is possible that we may be able to lower rates by broadening the base at that point.

>> joining me here in washington are congressman tim walls, democrat from minnesota, and karen finney, the former dnc director and msnbc analyst. you introduced today in the house a discharge petition which is a way for normally the minority to try to get, to force a vote on something that the leadership doesn't want. this petition would basically bring to a vote in the house the bill that the senate passed, which is basically the president's version of the tax structure that he would like to see. what's happening with the discharge petition? >> we have 151 people signed on to it. i think we have momentum. >> how many signatures do you need? >> 218. >> which is what it takes to pass. >> it will take democrats plus 27 republicans to basically do what all of us heard when we were home. don't let taxes go up on those 250,000 and below. and deal with the other later. and they argued that's what they wanted. it has passed the senate.

the president said he would sign it. they can deem their pledge to grover and the american people have certainty. then the fiscal cush is a shorter curve. into the holiday season, make sure that no one gets the tax increase on that first $250,000. that's all 100% of the public. the last 2% of it is those making more than $250,000 and they only pay above. that i would argue this is a pretty easy thing to do. i would argue everyone of my colleagues heard it during my campaign will i never heard a sim constituent saying keep arguing, please don't do anything. they said find common ground. my approach was, if we cannot agree on the other, let's take piece out of this that we all agree on and participates. >> it is so interesting for everyone in the house to see you on this. because back in august of this year, you voted the other way on this same notion. >> i did. >> what's the difference for you as a democrat?

18 democrats and you voted the other way on this in august. what's the difference between then and now? >> democracy requires compromise. it was fresh. it had just come out of the senate. i was saying with land prices going up, we should do something with the estate tax for my farmers. it still needs to be fixed but compromising, but thing the best and the needs of the people first. so i'm willing to go. i voted with the republicans. i voted to extend all the tax cuts which i disagreed with but i didn't want to go two years ago off that cliff. we said let's give it another year. let's get this done at the end of 2011. here we are again. let's pass what we can. so i think continuing to ask compromise. i'm willing to do it. i think my colleagues are willing to do it. all i'm asking for is 27 republicans to make sure taxes don't go up on the middle class.

it doesn't seem that difficult. >> karen finney, the other thing that changed since congressman's last wall on this thing, the voters have spoken. >> yes, they have. think about that the voters have spoken and more people than even voted for him agree with him on this approach that we're talking about. the republicans have had several weeks to make their case and it sounds like the very same case we heard coming out of mitt romney that the voters rejected. they've had a few weeks to make their case and the polls today say people aren't buying it. more people don't like it. so mitt romney couldn't convince the american people that it was a good deal and you have the congress that can't convince the americans it is a good deal. they're not stupid. the republicans are being so petulant with one another rather than saying you lost. the american people don't agree with you. the president wisely is saying he has the hand right now to sort of wait it out. unfortunately, the americans will be the ones to suffer. let the republicans go home and explain that to their constituents. that's one of the things that is

so brilliant about this move. make them go home and have to explain why it is that middle class people in their districts were perfectly fine to just screw them over. let them explain it. >> and a discharge petition is so rare that i never remember the actual rules of them from one instance to another. is there a time limit on how much time you have to get signatures? >> no. once we get them, we have to wait seven days to get it done. our calculus on this, if we get this done right, on christmas eve, we can vote on this and be home by christmas eve. the beauty of this is we don't need to go through all this if speaker bain we're bring up the bill and let us do this. it is the politics of the possible. it will pass. it will be signed by the president and every single person in this country will assure those tax rates stay the same and every economist tells us that that disposable capital, especially this time of year, has a huge job increase. it creates jobs. >> part of the reason it is so smart that the president is

going to the business roundtable tomorrow and increasingly the republicans are being pushed farther and farther into a corner and isolated. the business community says the president is being pretty reasonable. we agree with this. the president is meeting with all different people from all different parts of the economy. the majority of americans agree with him. we've got grover norquist and john boehner and a couple of the bat crap crazies, as you like to call them, holding the rest us hostage. >> they will all vote for this. do we go off the curb or the cliff and do you have to go back when someone asks you, why did not you vote for this on december 5th when you could have done it? why did you wait into january? let the markets crash. take that uncertainty out and cause the stress to the american families. >> i had democratic senators tell me months ago that they were hearing from a couple of republican senators in the cloak room that they actually need us to go off the cliff so they can then cast a vote that is purely interpreted as a tax cut no matter how you look at i.

have you heard anything like that from any whispers from the republican side in the house? >> no. no. not in there. and it is strange. i would have thought a month, there is a different reality out there. >> it set in with you. >> it has. i said i've been reasonable to compromise. no, i don't think it has yet. and for me, what is so unfortunate about this. this is what drives the american public crazy. every single one. they got to look them in the eye. they're going to vote for this. they know it is the right thing to do and they're going to say i don't want to do it now and make it worse. i am one of those that does believe that this can send shudders to the market. i got a lot of constituents that have a lot of uncertainty. it erodes faith that we can get anything done. i think that's the sad part about this. i think you turn it on its head. by the end of the week, we have that part off the table. there could be no argument to hold this up unless you say we're not going to give this to you until we exact cuts from you. my take is show me what those

are and i'll talk about them then. we can't agree on that. >> we're talking about exacting cut but also the republican party increasingly being seen as the party that protects the top 2%. >> i can't see any reason other than that why you wouldn't do it. >> congressman tim wals and karen finney, thank you for joining me. coming up, john boehner is down on conservative house republicans. what is that all about? jonathan cape hart will have to figure that out. and sunday night, bob costas said what had to be said. about a tragic murder-suicide that is the biggest story in football these days. and he was then attacked for saying it by the likes of mike huckabee and herman cain. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically

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have to tell you, i really have to tell you that today was a day of shame in the senate and a day of personal betrayal. and i'll tell you why in tonight's rewrite. capella university understands rough economic times have led to an increase in clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief don't have access to the professional help they need. when you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up? with a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others.

let's get started at capella.edu when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. for this gratitude i offer you this simple phrase. god bless us everyone. and for my family to yours, merry christmas. >> that was house speaker john boehner earlier tonight lighting the capitol christmas tree but the house holiday cheer stops right there.

as john boehner fights over the fiscal cliff with democrats and the president, he is cracking down now on some house conservatives that he thinks are a bit too free spirited. john boehner kicked two republicans off the house budget committee. he got rid of another two on the financial services committee. all four voted against the 2011 debt ceiling deal. the two on the budget committee voted against paul ryan's budget. the chairman of the budget committee. speaker boehner issued these punishments with the full support of the republican leadership including the majority leader eric cantor and majority whip kevin mccarthy. jonathan capehart, this is fascinating. i am interpreting this as a positive thing for president obama and the democrats in an attempt to at some point either before or after going off the cliff, reaching some kind of

deal with boehner. what boehner's message seems to be to these conservatives willing to vote for something because it is not conservative enough. i need better team players if i'm going to walk back from the white house with a deal. i need your vote on it. >> right. by removing the two from the house budget committee, they basically, what he's doing is putting in people who will do what he says. people who will get him the votes out of the budget committee that would then make it possible for him to take it to the floor and get a big vote. we will see it as much as last time, trying to pass this thing with just republican votes. he can get it out of committee and get it to the floor and get it passed with the magic 218 or north of that if he possibly can.

>> the conservatives, the crazy ones are just really angry about this. the club for growth released this statement. congressman are now free of the last remnants of the establishment leverage against them. we expect these three defenders of economic freedom will become even bolder and get even worse parking spaces in their efforts to defend the taxpayers against the big spenders in both parties. so here you have club for growth that was reliably getting all their ideas rubber stamped by the establishment in the house. now getting out there on the fringe, fighting with john boehner. >> without those guys on those committees, club for growth doesn't have as much leverage as it did last night. and those particular people, you can't, their power derive from their being on those committees. now that they're off, they're just four votes out there.

the power still resides with the speaker. and the great thing about this is that what it really does show is that speaker boehner, it is not just punishing these four guys. he is sending a clear message to the tea party caucus that has made his life a living hell since they came into washington and said, i'm tired of your games. i am tired of the problems that you're causing me, my leadership and also, i'm someone who wants to govern and i can only govern if i make you understand that i'm not going to put up with it anymore. >> it seems like an outburst that has been two years in coming and is loaded with things like, we don't have control of the united states senate because of you, tea party people who have given us nuts as republican senate nominees. and boehner's life would be so much better if he was working with a republican senate instead of the democratic senate he is working with. >> yes.

and also, though, i think this message is that the speaker, he wants to govern. the whole point of coming to washington is not just to slash, cut, close. it is about governing. and john boehner for whatever you think of him is someone that wants to get a deal. he wants to govern. by doing what he has done, he is saying, look. enough with the games. we don't have the senate as you were saying. the only way we can do this is if i pull on the reins a whole lot. not just a bit. that's what he's done. >> the striking thing is how much outrage there is not. we had to comb around to find these comments. thank you very much for joining us. coming up, the bravest man in football this week is not one of those fearless giants on the field. it is bob costas. and he will be my next guest in an exclusive interview. this december, remember --

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what happened in the united states senate today was painful for me personally to watch. it was a day of shame and personal betrayal on the floor of the senate. that's coming up in the rewrite. next, bob costas joins me in an exclusive interview. johan comes in a porcelain vessel, crafted with care by a talented blonde from sweden. ♪ smooth, rich, never bitter, gevalia. and you learned something along the way. this is the age of knowing what you're made of. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing,

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in the spotlight tonight, bob costas. sunday night on nbc's football night in america, bob costas addressed the most important football story of the day this way. >> you want some actual perspective on this? well, a bit of it come from the kansas city base writer jason whitlock with whom i do not always degree but today said it so well that we may as well just quote or paraphrase from the end of his article. our current culture ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy and more convenience store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead. handguns do not enhanks our safety. they exacerbate our flaws, temperature us to escalate arguments and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than aroiding it. in the coming days, javon belcher's actions will be analyzed.

who knows, but here wrote jason whitlock is what i believe. if javon belcher didn't possess a gunering and kasandra perkins would both be alive today. >> joining me now, bob costas. bob, thank you for joining us. i'm wondering when you decided you were going to have to say something, obviously you would have to say something about this horrible murder-suicide that occurred, nfl player killing the mother of his child right in front of his child, in front of his own mother, then killing himself. how did you decide how to do that in your show? >> well, i only had about 90 seconds and half of that or close to half of it was devoted to another observation. and throughout the day on the other network football programs, and then earlier including in the prior segment on our show original football night in america, the why's and where for had all been covered. i was looking for a different way in.

some people may have misunderstood my comments. i took one aspect of it as expressed by a writer whom i quoted verbatim. i took one aspect of it. i do not think that is the only aspect or possible aspect. there is clearly domestic violence aspect. clearly as i alluded to, the effect of playing football which we know has debilitating effects on mind and body, at least for some. what effect that might have had. what effect drugs and alcohol might have had. and another aspect of that is easy access to guns and a gun culture. and it was that aspect, the gun culture that i focused on. not to the exclusion of the others but just because i didn't have all that much time. >> i read the full article that you quoted. and i noticed, it seemed to me to my eye were carefully quoting the article and specifically deliberately leaving out pieces of the article that were directly political and directly about gun control.

was that a deliberate choice within your show? was it your sense that within your show, better to not go into that zone? >> it's not about that i'm afraid to go into that zone. if you're going, to you need more time and to be able to get into some nuance. what i was talking about here and i'm sorry if that wasn't clear to everybody, was a gun culture. i never mentioned the second amendment. i never used the words gun control. people inferred that. do i believe we need more comprehensive and more sensible gun control legislation? yes, i do. that doesn't mean repeal the second amendment. that doesn't mean a prohibition on somebody having a gun to protect their home and their family. it means sensible and more comprehensive gun control legislation. even if you had, that you would have the problem of what jason whitlock wrote about and what i agree with. a gun culture in this country. it demonstrates itself in different ways. it demonstrates itself in the

wild west, dirty harry mentality of people who actually believe that if a number of people were armed in the theater in aurora, they would have been able to take down this nut job in body armor and military style artillery. in fact almost every policeman in the country would tell that you that would have only increased the tragedy and added to the carnage. it also plays itself out, and jason whitlock had some insight into this. it plays out in the cities where teenage kids are somehow armed to the hilt. and it plays out, in the sports world. where young athletes are disproportionately armed. tony dungey, one of the most respected people in all of sports on our program sunday night said that one year when he coached the colts, he had 80 players before they cut the roster down. 80 players in training camp. he said how many of you guys own a gun? and roughly 65 hands went up. even if all those guns were obtained legally, you can't have 65 guys in their 20s and 30s, aggressive young men, subject to

impulses without something bad happening. i posed this question. i didn't have time to pose it sunday night but i'll pose it here. give me one example of an athlete. i know it has happened in society. give me one example of a professional athlete who by virtue of his having a gun took a dangerous situation and turned it around for the better. i can't think of a single one. but sadly, i can think of dozen whereby virtue of having a gun, a professional athlete wound up in a tragic situation. >> our friend mike put it yesterday at the end of his column, how many home runs could babe ruth hit without a bat? the people who do not september this way of looking at it come ought hard. bill o'reilly on the case. let's listen to what he had to say. >> belcher is solely responsible for the horrendous crime which orphaned his baby daughter. he knew. he chose, he chose to inflict

lethal damage. no question he was mentally imbalanced. you don't do that if you're in charge of yourself. >> obviously belcher is responsible for what he. did i agree with o'reilly to that extent. and bill was fair to me in contrast to some of the other stuff that went on across the street. he was actually fair to me in full context last night. and i appreciate that. no one is saying that belcher is not responsible. in fact, earlier in the day, in that i was appalled by the way some of this had been covered initially by some of the sports networks where they made it seal like there were two victims. that kasandra perkins was victim one and javon butler was victim two. no. the person who committed suicide first committed a murder and he is responsible for that. however, the ready easy availability of guns, could he have strangled her or stabbed

her? of course he could have. but the easy availability of guns makes this sort of thing far more likely to occur. if somebody points out that the country has a problem with nutrition and obesity, that doesn't mean they want to ban fast food. but they are you aware of some of the dangers and hoping to moderate people's behavior. if nothing else, even if some people disagree with me or misinterpret what i said. if it started a conversation on this, then i think that's a good thing. >> it is my honor that you joined us tonight with your first television interview on this. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. i appreciate it. and thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on nbc sports network, costas tonight. a year end special wrap-up. coming up, it is too early, way too early to talk about democrat and republican maneuvering for the 2016 presidential campaign, if, if, you're an amateur and you don't know that that maneuvering is

already seriously underway. so joe klein and i will talk about the maneuvering for 2016. in the rewrite, what that in the senate today was really hard for me to watch. and i know it was difficult for every senator to watch, including the senators who shamed the senate today by what they knew was the wrong vote. [ emily jo ] derrell comes into starbucks with his wife, danielle, almost every weekend. derrell hasn't been able to visit his mom back east in a long time. [ shirley ] things are sometimes a little tight around the house. i wasn't able to go to the wedding. [ emily jo ] since derrell couldn't get home, we decided to bring home to him and then just gave him a little bit of help finding his way. ♪ [ laughs ] [ applause ] i love you. i love you, too. thank you, mr. speaker, uh, members of congress. i love you.

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conditions people over 50 experience. crest pro-health for life. so jill can keep living the good life. crest. life opens up when you do. the senate rewrote itself on the rights of the disabled. and the united states senate shamed itself today. once again. it pains me to say that, it really does, having worked in the senate for seven years, i think the senate remains a great institution which has done much, much more to be proud of than the rare occurrences that it should be ashamed of. i don't usually think when a vote doesn't go my way in the united states senate, the senate should be ashamed of itself. i think that the senate has a right, a moral right to arrive at outcomes that i don't like. to arrive at outcomes i hate and to arrive at them with a reasonable exercise of senate decision making. i don't think that every procedural roadblock that

republicans throw in front of senate democrats is shameful. i've seen democrats do the same thing to republicans and i working on the senate floor have tried to do the same thing to republicans myself. in my seven years in the senate, i didn't recall one day of shame for the senate as a whole. most senators were innocent bystanders in the judiciary hearing that pitted anita hill against clarence thomas. if you found that hearing shameful, the shame was on the judiciary committee, in my view, and not on the united states senate acting as a whole. i tell you all this simply to stress how rare it is. how difficult it is for me to declare a today of shame in the united states senate. this was such a day of shame and sadness. john kerry in his role as chairman of the senate foreign relations committee was leading the senate as the floor manager

of a treaty. on the other side of the aisle, the senior republican on the foreign relations committee rose, not in opposition but in support of that same treaty. richard lugar and john kerry got 61 votes in the senate today for ratification of a united nations treaty on the rights of the disabled, which was modeled on a law passed by the senate. 22 years ago, the americans with disabilities act. in effect, it was a vote to export american law to the 155 nations around the world that have signed this treaty. a treaty that has already been ratified by 126 of those countries, including the united kingdom, france, germany, china, russia has ratified it. now you can pass anything in the senate with 60 votes. except treaties which require 66. a two-thirds majority. every democrat voted for the treaty and only eight republicans voted for the

treaty. 38 republicans disgraced themselves and disgraced the senate. by voting against it and controlling the outcome. john kerry tried everything he could on the senate floor to show republicans the way to vote for this treaty. >> it really isn't controversial. what this treaty says is very simple. it just says that you can't discriminate against the disabled. it says that other countries have to do what we did 22 years ago when we set the example for the world and passed the americans with disabilities act. >> the treaty was supported by organizations representing people with disabilities and veterans groups but that was not good enough for 38 republicans. it was supported by senator john mccain, himself a disabled veteran. >> bob dole has been our leader on the issue of disabilities from the moment he stepped foot into the chamber. to bob, it is unthinkable that

americans could not get over a curb or enter a school building or even watch a debate in this chamber if they were in a wheelchair. >> but that was not good enough for 38 of john mccain's republican colleagues, including his usual ally, lindsay graham. treaties take years to negotiate before they come to a vote. this treaty, though signed by president obama, was actually negotiated by president george w. bush. but that was not good enough for 38 republicans. republicans made up transparently ridiculous reasons to vote against it. they said it threatened america's sovereignty, even though senator kerry repeatedly showed them that the treaty requires no changes in u.s. law and that the treaty cannot be used as the basis for a lawsuit in u.s. courts. the opponents said it was inappropriate to consider a treaty ma post election lame duck session, never mind that just since i've been watching the senate, they've approved treaties 19 times during lame duck sessions.

and then they said, and this is what did it, this is what the 38 no votes were trapped by, the tiniest possible interest group you could imagine affecting the outcome of something so important. the home schooling crowd. then they said that the treaty endangered home schooling. home schooling fanatics expressed worry that the treaty could lead to the government imposing new regulations on the home schooling of disabled children, even though there is no language they could point to in the treaty that could justify any such worry. republicans who knew this was a lie still based their vote on it, because that is how much they live in fear of any interest group, of any size, with any affiliation with the tea party. the opposition to the treaty was led by tea party darling mike lee of utah who is in the second undistinguished year of what america can only hope is a short

senate career. the senior senator from utah, orrin hatch, who voted for the americans with disabilities act 22 years ago, voted against the treaty today because he now, even after just winning reelection, lives in fear of tea party protesters at his door of his local office in utah. orrin hatch who embarrassed himself, some would say shamed himself in the anita hill, clarence thomas hearings, has many, many times in his 35 years senate career cast honorable votes. i've seen him do it. cast honorable votes. those days are over for orrin hatch now. and today proved it in a deeply personal way. as the vote approached former senator bob dole, a dear friend of orrin hatch's was wheeled on to the senate floor by his wife, form he senator elizabeth dole. bob dole himself, a disabled war

veteran, was a strong but on this day silent supporter of the treaty. rolling the 89-year-old former republican senate leader on to the floor was a move designed to reach into the hearts of the senators on that floor, who knew bob dole well. who worked with him closely in the old days. senators like orrin hatch, chuck grassley, mitch mcconnell, richard shelby, thad cochran. senator dole went to the floor today needing just five, yes votes from old friends. here's how bob dole's old friends voted. >> mr. cochran. mr. cochran. no. mr. shelby. mr. shelby, no. mr. grassley.

mr. grassley, no. senators voting in the negative. mcconnell, mr. hatch, mr. hatch, no. >> bob dole needed five votes today. those five votes were all he needed. bob dole received into their hearts today. and found nothing. after the vote, john kerry said, it was one of the saddest days i've seen in almost 28 years in the senate. we know that when bob dole leaves us, which i hope doesn't happen for a very, very long time, those five men, if they're still with us, will rise on the they will know and we will know on the day when they could have honored bob dole. honored his vision as a legislator.

honor his friendship and his personal kindnesses to him over many, many years. they failed bob dole. with one word, no. they failed their old friend. they dishonored themselves and they dishonored the united states senate.

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tonight, we have new evidence that secretary of state hillary clinton is running for president. polls reveal that she sent hand signed notes with supportive words and encouragement to democrats who narrowly lost

their congressional races. in one note, secretary clinton wrote, we will continue needing your voice in the public square in the years to come. in the words of eleanor roosevelt, the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. onward! onward indeed. president obama's pick to chair the democratic party for the next four years, representative debby wasserman schultz, said this about secretary clinton today on andrea mitchell reports. >> she is an incredible leader who has a tremendous future as a leader of the united states of america. i'm sure that she'll be pressed into service. and knowing secretary clinton, i'm sure she doesn't plan to rest very long. >> and the race for the 2016 republican presidential nomination, moments ago, congressman paul ryan spoke at the jack kemp foundation dinner where senator rubio was receiving a leadership award paul ryan won last year. >> marco is joining an elite group of past recipients of the

reward. i'll see you at the reunion dinner. >> paul, thank you for your invitation for lunch in iowa and new hampshire. but i will not stand by and watch the people of south carolina ignored. >> joe klein, the games apparently have begun. >> only for those of us -- >> 2016 will be a lot more fun than 2012 was. and you know, up until a few weeks ago, i had the democratic ticket set. it would be a hillary clinton/david petraeus ticket. but i think that's kind of -- you know. >> we have to rewrite half of it. >> yes, well, although i mean -- we don't even need to go there.

>> the hillary, what i've heard, is that the people who are in the financial end of hillary's campaign have been alerted that they got planning to do. some of them are also andrew cuomo fund-raisers and they are alert that there is planning they need to do. some of them are pretty conflicted. that's the best that i have on what she's thinking. >> i've talk to some of the fundraisers and they are planning. i think she is going to run. she is exhausted now. she'll take a couple -- she may not know she is going to run although i suspect she kind of does. she will take a couple years. and at this point she would be a very, very formidable candidate. depending on what happens over the next four years. mario cuomo used to say between now and then, a pope will be born which means, who the hell knows what's going to happen? the second obama term could be a disaster. i don't expect it will be. and that would make it harder for her. but she is as well prepared as anybody i have covered in 43

years of doing this. to be president of the united states. >> the republican movement is pretty clear. rubio has already gone to iowa. they seem to be following the romney model of, you start the minute the election is over. >> yeah. you know what? they got a big problem. and you were just talking about it. you take republican decent republicans, lamar alexander, sacks by chambliss, a member of the gang of six, who is the third? lindsey graham who is often rational when not talking about foreign policy. what do all three of them have in common in they'll get tea party challenges in 2014. and you know, i read the speeches that rubio and paul ryan gave tonight and they were wonderful about the need to reex out to the poor and the afflicted. and so on. but every republican who votes for any kind of revenue increase in these coming, in these coming votes, there will be facing a

tea party challenge. and i suspect that that party is going to have to come to terms with that. it may take a couple more cycles to do it. have the tea party challenge would not even let these guys loose to vote for the american disabilities act going worldwide. >> outrageous. it is just, it is beyond outrageous. it is the kind of crazy nut behavior that lost in this election. mitt romney might have been a more successful candidate if he had stood up to the tea party at any one point during the election. he was never outflanked to his right during the course of winning that nomination. and i think that republicans are going to have to ask themselves. especially those who want to be president. i am a going to be bullied by these people? >> and everyone said it. all the commentators on television said romney needs a moment. he has to find a spot.

where is it? is it when rush limbaugh attacks a georgetown law school student? where is that moment? romney could never find it. >> how about moving to the right of rick santorum on contraception? if you're going to run as a moderate. and by the way, the only time he was successful during the campaign was when he moved to the center by renegging everything he said said before. when blin ran as a moderate, the signal that he send to moderate conservatives was, i'm upset about welfare as well. and we're going to reform it. and romney did not do that. and paul ryan has a particularly, you know, interesting moment coming, too. he is proposed a plan for medicare. medicare advantage. that is exactly the same as obama care is for people under the age of 65. and so i'm waiting for paul ryan to tell me the difference between his medicare advantage plan and the obama health care ch